Santa Clara County sheriff´s office investigating hoax 911 call

KCBA News

January 9, 2014 10:56 am

Authorities are investigating a hoax 911 call made Wednesday night by someone who claimed two people had been shot and explosives were at home near Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, a sheriff’s sergeant said.

Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies, San Jose police, fire and emergency medical responders, and staff from the medical center were sent to the 2200 block of Fruitdale Avenue, in an unincorporated pocket of San Jose, after the call came in at about 8 p.m., sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup said.

Responding crews quickly determined that the call was a hoax. The residence was empty and no one lived at the home, according to Stenderup.

Stenderup said, “Ideally, we want to maintain contact with the reporting party to get as many details as possible.”

However, the caller, who made the call from a cellphone, didn’t stay on the line and Stenderup said dispatchers were unable to make contact with the person after the initial call.

Because it was immediately clear that the call was a hoax once deputies arrived at the scene, the sheriff’s office did not call in a SWAT team.

The sheriff’s office is still investigating who placed the call. If that person is located, he or she will be arrested, Stenderup said.